CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Bureau of Fire Protection in Central Visayas (BFP-7) recorded its first casualty due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after the Mandaue City Fire Station confirmed that one of its firefighters died on July 5, 2020.
Fire Officer 1 Riel Denura, spokesperson of the Mandaue City Fire Station, confirmed this on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, saying the firefighter died in one of the hospitals in Lapu-Lapu City.
According to Denura, the fire firefighter’s cause of death was due to COVID-19 pneumonia critical. He reportedly had a history of pneumonia.
Read: Number of COVID cases in Coast Guard CV now at 31
“Last July 5, ni tawag ang misis diri nga ni undergo na siya og intubation and hours gikan sa pag tawag sa intubation, ni tawag siya balik nga wala nadaw, namatay na si sir. Mao pud to siya nahibalan nga positive gyud siya,” said Denura.
(Last July 5, the wife called and said he was intubated and then hours after, she called again to say he died. That’s when they found out he was positive for COVID-19.)
Denura said that the patient was admitted in the hospital last July 3, after experiencing difficulty in breathing.
Prior to his admission, Denura said that the patient reported to have experienced symptoms of the virus on June 23 and requested for rapid test and swab testing on June 28.
Denura said that the officer tested negative in the rapid test but his swab test showed a suspicious result. It wasn’t negative nor positive, according to Denura.
It was when he was admitted on July 3 that he was swabbed again. The results of that test, though, came out on July 5, the same day that the officer died.
With this development, the Mandaue City Fire Station is under lockdown together with 17 other personnel who were in close contact with the late firefighter.
The 32 other members of the station were also advised to undergo home quarantine.
Should there be any fire alarm in the city, Denura said that sub-fire stations will, for the time being, be the one to respond.
With this sad development, Denura reminded the public to always follow the health protocols and as much as possible stay inside their homes “because COVID-19 is not a joke.” /bmjo